Forgiveness

It is a secret that is hidden in plain sight. It costs nothing and is worth millions. It is available to everyone and used by few. If you harness the power of forgiveness, you will be revered, sought after, and wealthy. And not coincidentally, you will also be forgiven by others.

Most people do not ask for forgiveness. Amazingly, many of these people who dare to occupy our minds with angry thoughts are actually wandering about in life without any knowledge of our feelings or any conviction that they have done anything wrong.

For many years, I thought that forgiveness was akin to a knighthood - something I bestowed upon some poor wretch who groveled at my feet and begged my blessings. But as I matured and observed successful people, I gained a new perspective on forgiveness.

I cannot recall a single book, including the Bible, that says in order for you to forgive someone, he or she has to ask for it. Think about this concept! Where is the rule written that before I forgive people, they have to deserve it? Where is it written that to be forgiven by me, you must have wronged me no more than three times? Or seven? Or seventeen?

The unmistakable truth about forgiveness is that it is not a reward that must be earned; forgiveness is a gift to be given. When I give forgiveness, I free my own spirit to release the anger and hatred harbored in my heart. By granting forgiveness, I free my spirit to pursue my future happily and unencumbered by the anchors of my past. And forgiveness, when granted to others, becomes a gift to myself.

Now I must warn you that without a forgiving spirit, your effectiveness as a husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, boss, or leader of people will be at an end. The key to everything your future holds, the touchstone that will, for you, bring dreams into reality, is forgiveness.

Faith vs. Fear

Faith vs. Fear. It was an interesting thought that just popped into my mind. I started thinking about how different they are. But then I realized, they're not very different at all. All men are guided by faith or fear-one or the other-for both are the same. Faith or fear is the expectation of an event that hasn't came to pass or the belief in something that cannot be seen or touched. A man of fear lives always on the edge of insanity. A man of faith lives in perpetual reward.

Faith is to believe what one has not seen. The reward of faith is to see what one has believed.

Many men do not consider themselves men of faith nor of fear. Instead they consider themselves men of reason. Reason can only be stretched so far, but faith has no limits. The only limit to your realization of tomorrow is the doubt to which you hold fast today.

It is a fact that great leaders-great achievers-are rarely realistic by other people's standards. Somehow, these successful people often considered strange, pick their way through life ignoring or nor hearing negative expectations and emotions. Consequently, they accomplish one great thing after another, never having heard what cannot be done. That is precisely why one should never tell a young person that something cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.